Salt

Okay, to say that I was somewhat disappointed in Phillip Noyce's 2006 "Catch A Fire" starring Derek Luke and Tim Robbins would be the understatement of the decade. This was the director of "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger", two films I really enjoyed. "Catch" had a great cast and the potential to be up there in the canon of top anti-apartheid films. That never happened and Phillip Noyce then turned his attention to directing a few episodes of "Brotherhood" and then disappeared.

That was until now. Phillip Noyce has re-emerged with Salt, a powerhouse movie starring Angelina Jolie as Evelyn Salt, Liev Schreiber as Ted Winter, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peabody (apparently making up for his role in 2012).

The film starts off three years in the past with a spy exchange in North Korea of Salt and some unamed North Korean spy. Salt is welcomed back with open arms and resumes her career in the CIA. She's about to head home to her loving spider hunting (I am not making this up) husband until a Russian defector states that Salt is a Russian spy and is going to kill someone major (doing my best to not give the plot away here) in NYC at the funeral of the Vice President. Then the film becomes a high octane chase movie with Salt doing her best to avoid capture and being shot by jumping from truck top to truck top.

I would have to say that this role for Angelina would have to be her most physically demanding role of her career. Sure she didn't do her own stunts but she did an awful lot of running and fighting in this movie then she's ever done before and she does it with much swagger. Sure she fought in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and "Wanted" but those movies don't even come close to the physicality of this film and Angelina pulls it all off convincingly. That goes for the rest of the cast as well. Liev and Chiwetel are no slouches when it comes to laying the smack down or chasing Salt around.

The cinematography captured the beauty and the grit of NYC perfectly and the editing was spot on. Nothing was cut from too soon or too late. The only underwhelming thing about this flick was the score. James Newton Howard usually does an exceptional job of scoring films but in this instance his music seemed directionless and forgettable until at the very end of the picture where he seemed to finally find his footing.

It's apparent Phillip Noyce has created a great popcorn summer hit and has made a triumphant return to movie making. You'll definitely enjoy this one so get your tickets, sit back, and prepare yourself for a fun ride and I'll see you at Salt 2!!!!